


Stare Down the Odds

by lazarusriddler



Series: Ain't Come This Far to Lose [1]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Mac's time with the gunners, POV Third Person, Spoilers for MacCready's personal quest, implied barnes/winlock, light Violence, rating will probably change later, relationships will show up later in the series, the gunners
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-19
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-05-14 22:19:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5761033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazarusriddler/pseuds/lazarusriddler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>MacCready is on a mission in the Commonwealth. He has a plan.<br/>Nothing goes right for a long time.</p><p>MacCready's time in the Commonwealth before SS finds him in The Third Rail.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stare Down the Odds

MacCready had a plan.

From the moment he set foot in the Commonwealth he knew what he had to get done, but fuc- _boy oh boy_ was it harder than he had anticipated. He grew up on the Capitol Wasteland too, so he hadn’t exactly set his hopes high, yet the Commonwealth still managed to surprise him in the worst ways possible. He’d left the Wasteland because with the Brotherhood of Steel running things it had been a lot harder for someone of MacCready’s one skill to find honest work. As honest as killing people could be at least. The only options left were all from Paradise Falls and other such scum, and although MacCready didn’t think of himself as a particularly moral person he’d die before working for a slaver. Hel- _Shoot_ , the first few months after he left Little Lamplight he’d nearly been taken by those Paradise Falls assh- _jerks_ , and become a slave himself. No way was he even going to consider working for that garbage. Duncan understood, and where that kid got his sense of ‘good’ MacCready would never know but he sure had one.

Diamond City was the biggest disappointment. He’d been there once before, many years ago, but he’d been there as a tourist not as a merc desperate for work. He’d never really noticed the dang law enforcement until they were on his ass- _uh_ , paying attention to him. MacCready understood rules and the necessity of enforcing those rules better than most, he liked to think anyways, but this was just a culture shock he hadn’t been expecting.

The security had started sticking close as soon as they had learned he was a mercenary. Not that it took long with MacCready asking around for work like a darn fool. They stuck uncomfortably close by, and not in the fun way. After a week of Takahashi’s amazing noodles and reading Publick Occurances, they’d decided to throw subtlety to the roaches. They told him to either stop trying to ‘cause trouble’ or get out of town. Diamond City had no use for some trigger happy man for sale, so they’d said.

“Then how do any of you guards get laid?” MacCready had shot back, smirking smugly as they reflected on their phrasing. Then one of the guards had punched him in the jaw.

  
So he’d left, dam- _darn_ if he was going to take on the entire city’s security force. Maybe with several hundred metres between them MacCready would have considered trying, but close quarters and outnumbered by dozens of armed Security personnel who were all bigger than him? Heck, he wasn’t that crazy, especially now that he was risking more than his own life. So he rubbed his jaw and flipped them off as he sauntered out through the gate.

Fu- _dang_ , even Rivet City wasn’t this uptight, MacCready thought as he walked past the turrets and entered hostile territory. He turned a corner and instantly dropped low to the ground, nothing outside of the walls was safe. MacCready fiddled with his hat and moved on, slowly.

 

The one good thing he got out of Diamond City besides those noodles was a rumour about a group called the Gunners. A mercenary group that paid well and valued talent? Heck yeah, that was exactly what he had been looking for. Nearly two weeks in the Commonwealth and all he’d done was spend caps, it was well past time he earn some.

Living out in the streets had been dangerous, just as deadly as the Wasteland but in very different ways. There were so many dark corners, so many alleys and so many crevices for an enemy to be hiding. This was a whole new level of being constantly on edge.

Skill was what kept MacCready alive during those two weeks on his own in the city.  
Luck was what landed him with the Gunners so quickly.

MacCready had been camping out on the third floor of the safest building he could find, an old gym of some sort, when the fire fight started just one block away. An explosion shook MacCready from where he’d been trying to sleep, and he ducked out the window and up the fire escape to get a good look at what the hel- _heck_ was going on. He peered through his scope and saw a small group of humans in a large fight with some super mutants.

Too many super mutants.

MacCready swallowed, early memories of Murder Pass and later memories of DC and The Mall all poking at the forefront of his mind uncomfortably. He felt his insides chill. It was barely a second later that he pulled the trigger and the mutant in his sights fell to the ground. A few moments later and MacCready had taken another one down. Then another one. A minute and a half later MacCready was reloading, three more super mutants dead on the ground. If nothing else, it felt damn- _dang_ good to be doing something again, even if there were no caps in it. Nearly a month of doing nothing but counting the hours he wasn’t making caps, the hours of Duncan waiting and dying, had left MacCready somewhat off-kilter to say the least.

He was desperate to do something. _Anything_.

Maybe once all the mutants were dead the humans would leave something MacCready could scavenge and sell. It was unlikely, but he could hope. The only thing he could do was hope. MacCready ground his teeth as he took out another mutant. Its head exploded before its body hit the pavement.

Then it was over, just as quickly as it had started. All the super mutants and their hounds were dyeing the ground red while the humans still alive were starting to pick through the mess for supplies. MacCready sighed and lowered his rifle. After a few minutes he stood up from his perch and stretched his back. He just had to hope they’d leave something.

A familiar click from behind him made him freeze. Instinctively MacCready began to raise his arms. Shi- _shoot_.

“Who are you? What’s your business here?” a hard female voice barked behind him. MacCready contemplated turning around, but instead just cleared his throat and spoke loudly. It wasn’t just his own life he was risking out here after all.

“The name’s MacCready, and that little scuffle woke me up so I decided to let off some steam, all right?” Any fear he felt was definitely hidden by his snarky tone, although snark was probably more likely to get him killed. He couldn’t help it. The woman behind him snorted.

“Well follow me Sleepy, the boss’ll want to meet you,” she said grinning, as MacCready saw when he finally turned around, although it was a lot more predatory than he was comfortable with. From what he could tell after three weeks in the Commonwealth slavery wasn’t really big out here, yet the woman’s expression reminded him too closely of those Paradise Falls motherfu- _scum_ when they thought they’d caught a new ‘product’. MacCready set his teeth and noted that the woman wasn’t alone, there were two more rough looking people behind her with their guns trained on MacCready’s chest. With no other option, MacCready went with the people he’d helped save. _Great_.

Several extremely tense minutes later MacCready was standing amidst the corpses of the super mutants he’d killed, faced with a much larger and much more organized group of humans than he’d been able to see before. From his perch they’d looked like a few raiders, but now he could see several dozen, well armoured, mean looking fighters. MacCready took a deep breath, his arms now stiff at his sides as he started thinking of things to say to endear himself to these people. He wasn’t exactly the best at making people _not_ want to shoot him. The woman who had collected MacCready took a few steps forwards, leaving her two subordinates on either side of him.

“Sir! I found that nosey sniper,” was all she said before a large man, with terrible sideburns, in power armour turned and merely nodded at her before advancing on MacCready. How had he not seen someone in power armour? That would have been a good sign these people didn’t need his help for sure. He watched the man as he approached, refusing to drop eye-contact with him. MacCready was used to holding his own against people bigger than himself. Or, he had been a long time ago.

“You’re a hell of a shot, you got a name?” the man said bluntly, and dang his voice was deep. Was this guy part super mutant himself or what? Oh, that was not a mental image MacCready needed right now.

“Like I told your errand girl, the name’s MacCready. Now what do you want?” He tilted his head and caught the extremely dirty look the woman was giving him. He grinned a little. The man in power armour grinned too, but it was just as unsettling as that woman’s had been. Like a child about to squash a bug with a rock. MacCready stopped grinning.

“MacCready huh? Well we value skills like yours MacCready, so long as you can follow orders. Consider this a formal invitation to join the Gunners.” His voice was loud and he watched MacCready very carefully, who tried and failed to hide his surprise if the smug look on the man’s face was any indication.

“Wha- _you’re_ the Gunners?” he asked and then shook his head. “Hold on, wait, first things first I’m not cheap, if you want me we need to discuss caps.” A second large man, broad shoulders and a bandanna across his face sauntered up and stood close to the man in power armour. He glared at MacCready.

“This ain’t a negotiation kid, I don’t think you realize the shit you’re in,” he growled.

Oh MacCready knew exactly the shi- _situation_ he was in, but kept his eyes on the man in power armour. A voice in the back of his head told him that he was dangerously close to being shot. After about a minute the power armour man grinned and put a hand on bandanna guy’s shoulder.

“No, I think this kind of talent could be worth some negotiating, you’ll have to take it up with our superiors, MacCready, and show them that you’re worth it. My word will only go as far as you can carry it,” power armour man said carefully. MacCready nodded probably too quickly.

“Take me to them, I can handle anything you throw at me. Let’s stop wasting time,” he grinned again. It really was about time he started making some damn- _darn_  caps.

It took MacCready a month and to realize that he’d made the worst decision of his life, which was really saying something.

 

He’d impressed everyone quickly with his skills, of course, which put a lot of expectations on his back. It also put target on his back for those recruits who’d been there longer and had worked harder to get in with the Gunners. It didn’t start subtle, since nothing in this world was subtle. MacCready was nearly killed by a ‘stray bullet’ during some training with the recruits, which escalated a few days later to a couple punks trying to beat MacCready up in the bathroom. MacCready kicked their asse- _ugh_ , fended them off of course, but he started sleeping with one eye open. It wouldn’t take them long to realize just how garbage he really was at close quarters combat and come at him with more than two people. That wouldn’t go over too well for MacCready.

He was put under the instruction of the big guy with sideburns in the power armour, Winlock. He didn’t seem too phased by the other Gunners treatment of MacCready. He saw MacCready after those two dic- _jerks_ had attacked him in the bathroom and had just smirked at the fresh bruise on MacCready’s chin. Whether he didn’t care, was impressed at MacCready’s survival in their ranks so far, or just plain sadistic MacCready couldn’t tell. Either way he stood up straighter and glared whenever Winlock was around. That was how his first week with the Gunners ended.

The Gunners were a lot larger than MacCready had imagined, as were the caps. They were more like an army than a mercenary group, which made MacCready pretty uncomfortable but da- _dang_ the caps were so much better than he expected.

MacCready’s second week had him out as part of Winlock’s main squad. The first few recruits who didn't follow Winlock's demands exactly, or just too slowly, were made examples of in front of the whole squad. Winlock put on his power armour and beat them until they were broken. One recruit actually lived, which honestly impressed MacCready. He'd run into the Brotherhood of Steal enough times to know that power armour was not just a flashy accessory. After that, when Winlock barked orders at his squad and grew impatient quickly, MacCready just went with it and worked as fast as he could. Which was pretty darn fast.

It didn’t take him long to realize Winlock was keeping an extra close watch on him, but MacCready shrugged it off. Something he learned in Little Lamplight, don’t give anyone any reason to do anything shifty. He’d learned not to let people walk all over him the day he punched Princess in the mouth. He couldn’t punch Winlock, not if he could but he wanted to live, but he could work hard and be the best dam- _darn_ shot in the team. It didn’t take long for everyone else to realize that he actually was the best shot. Winlock never backed off, but he never did anything either, so MacCready just ignored how agitated it made him feel.

The fourth week was when MacCready felt his eyes open.

Winlock had ordered them to slaughter an innocent family on a farm. Just because they had a good location and food to eat. The Gunners wanted it, and so they took it. MacCready watched from where he lay on a nearby hill through his scope and didn’t fire a single shot. He just watched as a father fell before his wife and children, who were crying as they were slaughtered next. MacCready felt sick. He kept his eye to his scope, not really seeing anything for quite some time.

After a while, he really wasn't sure how much time had passed, he got up and made his way slowly to the rest of the squad. Winlock met him half way there, with a power-armoured punch to the face. MacCready felt his nose crunch and tasted blood instantly as he was thrown to the ground from the force of the blow. He landed on his back with a pained shout and a hard thump.

“What the f-” he cried, and his promise wasn’t what stopped him cursing this time, it was Winlock as he stamped his foot down hard on MacCready’s chest. MacCready wheezed as all the air was crushed out of his chest and felt his rifle dig painfully into his back. He groaned through clenched teeth. That power armour was very, very heavy.

“I ordered you, along with the entire unit, to take out the targets. Don’t try to smart me MacCready,” Winlock jerked his head and from behind him Barnes appeared, who ripped the sniper rifle out from under MacCready with a painful jerk. MacCready winced but couldn’t really make much noise with Winlock's foot threatening to cave in his chest cavity. His eyes darted from Barnes to the sniper rifle as it was passed to Winlock to the foot on his chest and back to Winlock’s face as he easily figured out that it wasn’t fired recently. MacCready swallowed as Winlock looked down and met his gaze. He already knew MacCready hadn’t fired a single shot. This show was just to get to him, make him nervous.

Damn him, it was working.

MacCready glanced over at Barnes, who had pulled out his laser pistol and had it trained on MacCready’s face. Barnes was watching Winlock though, with rapt attention. Something actually quite close to adoration, and a separate part of MacCready’s brain realized something that he’d have to cringe about later. Right now he his gaze was back on Winlock, and he was praying that he didn’t look as terrified as he felt. He clenched his fists to try and keep them from shaking.

What if Winlock killed him now? Were the lives of those farmers really more important than Duncan? The farmers had died anyway. It wasn’t even a fair trade of his own life and his son’s for these strangers. MacCready swallowed the growing lump in his throat as he watched Winlock and wondered what his pride would let him say to get out of this situation.

“You disobeyed an order MacCready, and I do not tolerate that,” Winlock spat and threw the sniper rifle aside. He ground his heel down into MacCready’s sternum, and MacCready couldn’t stop the pained shout that escaped his throat.

“W-Winlock. Wait-” MacCready started, but he wasn’t sure how to continue. Winlock lifted his foot slightly, just enough for MacCready to take a deep shuddering breath. “I. It- it won’t happen again,” he managed to say. Was that good enough? He hoped it was good enough.

 _Please be good enough_ , he pleaded in his head.

“Next time I give you an order, what will you do?” Winlock hissed and pressed his heel down again and MacCready instinctively reached up to the huge metal foot on his chest. He said nothing for a moment, and Winlock pressed harder. MacCready could swear several ribs were cracking and threw his head back into the dirt with another whine of pain.

“Okay I’ll- I’ll follow orders- Winlock-” he choked out. A beat passed before Winlock lifted his foot entirely, and MacCready instantly rolled over onto his knees, gasping and coughing. His hat had fallen off at some point. MacCready heard them moving behind him, and then way too close to his ear Winlock spoke quietly.

“This is your only warning. And you don’t get any caps for this mission. Understood?” He wasn’t whispering exactly, but his voice was low and it took all of MacCready’s willpower not to jerk away. Instead he only nodded, not looking at them. Barnes laughed, and MacCready heard them walk off. He cursed in his head, and then mentally apologized to Duncan for it. MacCready took a few more deep breaths. His pride hurt just as much as his chest, but he thought again of Duncan and his pride hurt a little less. He slowly grabbed his hat and his sniper rifle before standing up. He could already feel the bruises on his face and chest forming. His chin was covered in blood from his nose and he wondered briefly is Winlock has broken his nose. He put his hat on and didn’t look at anyone as he rejoined the group by the farmhouse, and flinched as he sat down. He subtlety used a stim to fix whatever damage Winlock had just done to his ribs and wiped the drying blood off his face.

  
The next time the Gunners attacked innocent people, MacCready pulled the trigger.

 

It was four more months before MacCready decided that caps just weren’t worth it anymore. Well no, he had decided that caps weren’t worth it after he’d been with the Gunners for two months, it just took him three more to figure out how to leave. For one thing, they all knew him by now. He was one of their, if not the, best sniper in their ranks and they valued him. Which meant they’d rather not lose him, and would go very far to ensure that MacCready stayed on their side of the barricades. Winlock never hurt him again, since MacCready went out of his way to make sure there was no reason to, and the recruits stopped taking targeting him after a while. That didn’t mean the threats weren’t constantly looming, that MacCready was actually sleeping at night. He wasn’t.

Hel- _Heck_ he was so on edge that his hair was turning grey. He found only a few, but it was still alarming for the 22 year old.

MacCready heard the Gunners talk about some place called Goodneighbour frequently. It was close to the base apparently, not that MacCready ever left unless they were on a job, but apparently they couldn’t touch it. Something about the mayor being a badas- _ugh_  the mayor being too much for even the Gunners to take on. Someone named Hancock, Mayor Hancock. That name was cursed every time the booze went around the table.

MacCready hadn’t had a good drink since coming to the Commonwealth, let alone since joining the Gunners and feeling more and more like a prisoner.

Within the last couple weeks the higher-ups in the Gunners had started to take a troubling interest in MacCready, and Winlock was pissed. He was just waiting for an excuse to take MacCready down a peg, not that MacCready wanted any of the attention. It was both reassuring that his skills were just that good, and extremely nerve racking that Winlock and Barnes were once again focused on him. Now as a threat instead of an insubordinate, and MacCready wasn't sure which was worse. The two men were apparently not as important within the Gunners as MacCready had initially assumed. If the rumours were to be believed, MacCready was on route to get a fast track up the ranks, above the both of those assh- _jerks_. MacCready smirked to himself when he thought of their faces at having to follow his own orders.

Too bad the Gunners were entirely fuc- _freaking_ insane. It wasn’t just Winlock and Barnes oh no the Gunners just seemed to get more unhinged as they went higher up in ranks.

Fu- _Forget_ that.

Goodneighbour was his best bet. He volunteered to keep watch of the main base for a few days in a row, to see if he could find this town. MacCready wasn’t about to run out blindly into the Commonwealth after all, not with a potential army on his back.

He found Goodneighbour the first day, it was quite literally just right around the block. MacCready blinked at the sign when he first saw it.

He had really expected that to be harder. MacCready then snorted and turned slightly pink at his own internal phrasing, before coughing and returning his focus to his goal. The next few days were spent figuring out the best route to take to his salvation.

He left several days later, well past midnight, with his caps and his sniper rifle. He left a note that said simply ‘ _I’m done. \Don’t follow me_ ’ just to make sure they got the message. He even printed the letter as neatly as he could, and hoped that someone in the Gunners could read.

MacCready kept his head down as he crept past the barriers, and with a deep breath and one final look behind him, he pushed open the door and entered Goodneighbour. He hoped it would be the salvation he needed.

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS THE FIRST FIC I HAVE POSTED IN EVER. I have a whole series planned for MacCready, because I love that tiny man.  
> Any unedited swears were definitely on purpose, don't worry. Even MacCready slips up when his emotions are high.
> 
> I have a huge series planned, but if like there's more of anything you want to see (like more of MacCready's time in the gunners) please let me know because I am so into that.  
> LEMME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. PLS. 
> 
> Next time: MacCready and Hancock work out a deal.


End file.
